State to spend $380 million on Johnston road, bridge projects

The state will spend more than $380 million to tackle more than 32 transportation projects in Johnston County over the next 10 years.

The N.C. Transportation Board approved its latest long-range plan earlier this month. It includes about 1,100 projects across the state.

DOT engineers compiled the list of projects using the state’s new Strategic Transportation Investments program. The program, approved by state lawmakers in 2013, is a data-based formula for deciding road-building priorities.

While the program helps rank projects at the statewide level, the DOT says it considers local input to prioritize projects at the regional and division levels.

Johnston fared better in the funding plan than staff expected, county Planning Director Berry Gray said. Many of the approved projects have been talked about in the county for years, he said, and the STI funding will finally allow them to move toward construction.

“We did well, especially compared to some other counties in our region that we were competing with,” Gray said.

The state weighed several factors in deciding what to fund, Gray said, and the high levels of congestion in Johnston pushed many of its projects into the money. Other considerations included whether a project would improve economic competitiveness, cut travel times for commuters or eliminate a safety concern.

Projects in Johnston funded through the long-term transportation plan include:

Archer Lodge

▪ Replacing the bridge over Cattail Creek on Eatmon Road near Archer Lodge. Right-of-way acquisition is scheduled for 2020, and construction will cost $326,000 in 2021-22.

Benson

▪ Paving a one-mile stretch of Interstate 40 from the Interstate 95 exit to Morgan Road. The project will cost about $850,000 and is scheduled for construction in 2018.

▪ Paving a 1.6-mile stretch of I-40 from about one mile east of N.C. 242 to I-95 in Benson. Construction will cost about $2.9 million and is scheduled for 2018.

▪ Paving a 12.6-mile stretch of I-40 from Morgan Road near Benson to the Sampson County line. Construction will cost about $3.9 million and is scheduled for 2016.

▪ Replacing a bridge over Mill Creek on Reedy Prong Church Road southeast of Benson. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2021, and construction will cost about $1.1 million in 2022.

Clayton

▪ Widening N.C. 42 East in Clayton from Glen Laurel Road to Buffalo Road. Right-of-way acquisition is scheduled for 2016 and will cost about $3.1 million. Construction will cost about $17.2 million in 2018.

▪ Building a five-mile “southern connector” road in Clayton that will start at the intersection of Shotwell Road and U.S. 70 Business before looping southeast toward N.C. 42 East. Right-of-way and utilities are scheduled for 2024 and 2025, but construction is unfunded.

▪ Replacing a bridge over White Oak Creek on Winston Road. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2020, and construction will cost about $600,000 in 2021-2022.

▪ Widening N.C. 42 West from N.C. 50 in the Cleveland community to U.S. 70 Business in Clayton. Right-of-way and utility costs will total about $16 million and are scheduled for 2021. Construction will cost about $74 million and is scheduled for 2023-2025.

Cleveland

▪ Access improvements near the I-40-N.C. 42 interchange. Right-of-way and construction will cost about $40 million and are scheduled for 2019.

▪ A road-widening and traffic-management project on I-40 from the Wake County line to N.C. 42. The project will cost about $36.9 million. Right-of-way acquisition is scheduled for 2018, and construction is scheduled from 2018 to 2020.

▪ Paving on I-40 from 1.8 miles east of Cleveland Road to one mile east of Cornwallis Road. The project will cost about $760,000 and is scheduled for 2019.

▪ Replacing a bridge over Swift Creek on Barbour Mill Road. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2021, and construction will cost about $1.8 million in 2022.

Four Oaks

▪ Replacing a bridge over Hannah Creek on Joyner Bridge Road near the Bentonville community. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2017, and construction will cost about $2.25 million in 2018.

Johnston County

▪ Paving a 12.5-mile stretch of I-95 from mile post 84 north of Benson to near the U.S. 70 bypass. Construction will cost about $12.5 million and is scheduled for 2016 and 2017.

▪ Replacing a bridge over the Little River on Old Dam Road in O’Neals Township. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2023, and construction will cost about $925,000 in 2024.

▪ Paving and replacing bridges on a 10-mile stretch of I-95 from U.S. 70 in Selma to U.S. 301 in Kenly. The portion of the project from U.S. 70 to State Road 1001 is already complete. The remaining portion of the paving project is currently unfunded but will cost about $5 million. However, the replacement of two bridges over the Little River is scheduled for 2016 and 2017 and will cost about $12.5 million.

▪ Widening U.S. 301 to multiple lanes from N.C. 96 near Four Oaks to Brogden Road in Smithfield. Right-of-way and utilities are scheduled for 2023, and the first part of construction is scheduled for 2025. About $14.9 million of construction is unfunded.

Kenly

▪ Replacing two bridges on I-95 over the CSX Railroad near Kenly. Right-of-way acquisition is scheduled in 2019 for $900,000, and construction will cost about $9.3 million in 2021.

▪ Replacing a bridge over the Little River on Beulahtown Road. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2023, and construction will cost about $1.2 million in 2024-2025.

Princeton

▪ Replacing a bridge over Mill Creek on Richardson Bridge Road. Right-of-way is scheduled for 2017, and construction will cost about $2.4 million in 2018.

Selma

▪ Widening Ricks Road in Selma to three lanes from U.S. 70 to U.S. 301. Right-of-way and utilities are scheduled for 2019 and construction is scheduled for 2021.

▪ Widening Buffalo Road from U.S. 70 to Old Beulah Road. Right-of-way and utilities will cost about $600,000 in 2019, and construction will cost about $6.6 million in 2021.

Smithfield

▪ Converting a portion of U.S. 301 to a “super street,” which bars drivers on side streets from directly crossing or turning left onto more heavily traveled roads. The nearly two-mile project, from Booker Dairy Road in Smithfield to Ricks Road in Selma, will cost about $13.3 million. Right-of-way and utilities are scheduled for 2023, and the first part of construction is scheduled for 2025. About $5.1 million of the construction is currently unfunded.

▪ A new Booker Dairy Road extension in Smithfield from Buffalo Road to North Bright Leaf Boulevard. Right-of-way is scheduled in 2016-2017 and will cost about $4 million. Construction will cost about $6.2 million in 2018-2019.

▪ A land-acquisition and clearing project at the Johnston County Airport. The $335,000 project is scheduled for construction in 2019.

Wilson’s Mills

▪ Intersection improvements at Wilson’s Mills Elementary School. Right-of-way and utilities are scheduled for 2018 and will cost about $200,000. Construction will cost $864,000 in 2020.

▪ Converting a five-mile stretch of U.S. 70 to a freeway from U.S. 70 Business to the Neuse River Bridge, with interchanges at Swift Creek Road and Wilson’s Mills Road. Right-of-way and utilities are scheduled for 2018, and construction will cost about $26 million in 2020-2022.